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Thursday, 28 December 2017

I hope everyone has had a good Christmas and now looking forward to the New Year.

This card is for the Snippets playground challenge. At first glance it may not seem that I have used any snippets. However, what happened was I had cut each of these pieces off a larger stamped image for another card and these were left over which is why they are different colours. I decided it wouldn't hurt to put them together (although the balloon has made another appearance LOL!). Seems such waste otherwise. So there you have it snippets of a different kind!

I used a Sheena stencil and one of her bird stamps from the set for the background. I added a little pebeo wax around the edges too.

Sunday, 24 December 2017

One last post to share from Swedish House Crafts to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2018. Pop over to the Swedish House Crafts blog to see some special discounts available to you and some lovely cards by some of the DT.

I used the one of the Gummiapan frame dies to frame my sentiment which is from my stash. To finish I cut some more of the star frames but only the star part and then added some glittler snow from my stash.

Saturday, 23 December 2017

The challenge at CD Sunday is Christmas flowers or foilage. I really couldn't think what cd to find those on, so I decided to design my own with a cd I happened to have out which is "Christmas with My Craft Studio".

I used a background paper and then imposed a card insert on top which I shrunk down. Then I added the text and holly leaves. The tree I cut out and put on afterwards.

I actually printed it too large the first time and so not to waste it I made the card below. The ribbon is a lovely sage green but will not photograph that way LOL!

Can you believe it, I had the tree left over then so a CAS card using that and a Tim Holtz word die.

Friday, 22 December 2017

Two things I began to learn this year are modern brush calligraphy and watercolour flower painting. So I've combined them to make this card for the CAS Watercolour challenge which is Anything Goes. It did start life a lot more CAS but a few issues meant I had to add some more foilage!

I do find this very restful to do and plan to try more in the coming year, even if when I've finished my results aren't quiet up to scratch. Also it does look better IRL! and seen from a little bit more of a distance.

Thursday, 21 December 2017

The current challenge on Less is More is for birds/feathers. I don't really have any bird stamps but I remembered I had these free papers from a magazine.

I have a friend who loves owls and I was going to make her birthday card with these papers - but as it's not until June next year it was on my to do list. So I bumped it up and made the card, simple matting and layering and a sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches.

I usually have these magazine papers waiting to be used, but I actually went on to make some cards for her with the rest - feeling accomplished! Just need to finish all the other things now........

Wednesday, 20 December 2017

Yesterday I shared a card I made with an Inkylicious stamp and I also bought these wonderful bare trees. They are perfect for the challenge on Stamping Sensations this month which is "Winter trees and flowers".

I used ink dusters and TH DI inks in picked raspberry, dried marigold and spiced marmalade. After removing the mask I brushed a little ink over to soften the white. It looked a little bare in the sky so I drew three birds too! The sentiment - my fave - is from Inkylicious too.

Edged with a black sharpie making this a nice flat card for posting! I'm so mindful of this these days. In the UK a 6x6 card will be 56p second class but make it any larger and it goes to 76p, that's only if it's flat too.

Tuesday, 19 December 2017

I love this stamp I got recently from Inkylicious and wanted to use it right away. I decided it would be perfect for the current challenge at Allsorts which is "Cold and Frosty colours".

I stamped the image in Caribbean archival ink and then using blue jeans oxide and broken glass DI I used ink dusters to swipe across the image. Then I added a few liquid pearls.

I have had this decoupage paper for ages and thought it would look like ice if I used some of the same ink colours over the top of it. I used a little glycerine when blending to help the ink glide over the paper.

Finally a TH die set I bought and haven't yet used, but I knew this script sentiment from it was going to be useful. I took another piece of card and brushed ink over before cutting out.

Monday, 18 December 2017

A little reminder of our monthly theme of Clean and Simple for the December challenge at Penny Black & More.

For my DT card I used the Penny Black set 30-155 Blooming Garden and for the sentiment 30-115 Lace Delight. For a change instead of masking the flowers I actually painted around them with some aquantints. Then I used Derwent colour inktense pencils to colour the flowers and seed heads. I stamped a little bit of a pattern in the background in Watering can ink so that it was not competing with the main image. Then I stamped the sentiment over the top with Clair black ink.

I cut the panel out using Spellbinders distressed edges dies and a mat for it in black and that was it!

I do hope you find time to join us for the challenge which as always has fab prizes on offer.

Saturday, 16 December 2017

This is a card I created using Lavinia Stamps. As you can't use stamps from another company I opted for writing my greeting with my new found modern calligraphy skills - still a long way to go there though!

I used TH distress inks in Festive Berries and Evergreen Bough with a little glycerin to cover the card apart from the moon which I masked with fluid. I then removed the masking fluid and before stamping sprinkled some water and made a watermark around the moon. Then stamped the fairies, washing line and trees. Added the mistletoe with perfect pearls for the berries and a little glitter gel pen to the wings of the fairies, their feet and hands.

Friday, 15 December 2017

For my Swedish House Crafts DT card today I decided to take a step back from Christmas and instead make a pretty folded birthday card. I used a pre made folded card but you could easily use a die or do the folds yourself.

Read to the end to find links to the items I used and a special offer for you!

I love these papers by Pion Design - Images from the Past - Scent of Lavender and I only used a few from the 12x12 sheet too.

I used Roxstamps - Heart Wreath to frame the main image of the card cut out twice. The other papers I have used are from Pion Design - 6"x6" Complete Collection - The Witched Hour. Yes! Halloween but you would never know! Look how elegant those stripes look.

I also used some Gummiapan Dies - Longer Hearts and some paper flowers in amethyst and antique white. The beautiful green organza ribbon was just the perfect touch to complement the lavender.

I cut some of the hearts again from the wreath and made a little spray. I twisted the flowers together and made a little hole to put them through with a dot of glue to secure them.

A final look at the completed card. In this view you can see the folds.

You can get 5% off all of the lovely items I used to make my card if you use this code XO4QD2ES4223 - and it is also valid until the end of December too! Although I can't guarantee the items will still be available then as the stock does move very fast. So don't delay - go and shop today!

Unfortunately the Birthday sentiment die I used is no longer made by Gummiapan and isn't therefore available in the shop; but here is the list of everything else I used that you can get the discount on.

Tuesday, 12 December 2017

I made this card a while ago for my Mother in Law but never got around to sharing it. She is always saying her garden is full of wildlife and she has names for them all, even a pigeon! So I thought this die set from Creative Expressions would be perfect to make her a card.

I used aquatints to make the background and then using my snippet box I die cut all the elements, rubbing some antique gold pebeo gilding wax onto them to highlight the embossing. Then I drew some birds by hand in the sky and added some little furrows for the bunnies!

I'm going to the Snippets playground with this card and hope to catch some festive food or even drink when I get there lol!

Friday, 8 December 2017

I made this card for an ex-colleague who loves golf. If you look closely you can see there is a snow covered golf course on the scene!

I used a cdrom from Ooh La la Creations for all the elements and printed it out as one layer to save on postage! Except when I came to put it through my post scale it was too wide - so I have to admit to trimming it down a little!

Although the card is for a man I did add a wink of clear stella to the lake.

I'm entering this into the Male Room Challenge which this time is for Christmas/Winter Wishes/December Celebrations.

Sunday, 3 December 2017

For my DT card I used Penny Black 30-006 christmas critters I took a piece of water colour card and stamped the mouse image. As it was going to be a CAS card I didn't bother masking off the image but painted around it with aquatints. The I faux bleach some of the colour away around the image and some spots for snow.

I coloured the image with TH distress crayons added the sentiment and some little spots of glitter. All cut out with a Gummiapan stitched rectangle die.

Thanks for looking and I hope you will have time to join our challenge this month. We have fab prizes on offer this month as always. Our sponsors this month are:-

Friday, 1 December 2017

I'm so excited to have been selected to be published in Craft Magazine again this year. This card will be in the issue out today - if you subscribe you will already have it!I used a Crafters companion tree embossing folder which I then painted the background with blue aquatint and the tree bark with the silver tint. I stamped the Sheena Douglass deer using a sepia ink pad and embossed with clear embossing powder.

I coloured and cut around the deer and set aside. I coloured with green aquatint the bottom of the card where the embossing does not reach, then stamped just the hoofs and the ground marks onto this area. Then I lined up the deer and mount onto the card with sticky pads. I used a piece of vellum and my GoPressFoil for the Merry Christmas to make the greeting.I cut two banners in white and red card, saving the red hearts from the waste. Offset the white banner over the red one and reinserted the red hearts. Attached the vellum and banner to the embossed card, adding a little extra heart cut from the banner waste.

Thursday, 30 November 2017

Did you wonder how I was going to combine Halloween with Christmas? LOL! Well the papers I used on this card are from the Pion Design Halloween collection "The Witched Hour" 6x6. You can also buy it in 12x12, and whats more they are on sale at the moment in the shop! It just shows you that you don't have to use Halloween papers for Halloween cards!

The heart wreath is new from Roxstamps in the shop and I can see I will be using it a lot - it's so versatile. Here I cut it twice, once in white to slightly offset and show the pattern of the paper.I also added a little clear sparkle pen over the top of the hears and circles.

There is a little stamp in the shop that you may overlook - but you shouldn't because it is so useful and can look like so many things. I used it to stamp my base card and emboss in silver. It's called Little Space from Gummiapan.

Finally I added this beautiful white ribbon with silver dots, that you can find in the shop here.

Thanks so much for visiting today. All the products I used are hyperlinks in the text of the post. Just click on them to go to the item in the Swedish House Crafts shop.

Wednesday, 29 November 2017

This is one of a set of stamps I got a few months ago from Crafters Companion all on an afternoon tea theme. So when I saw the challenge at Cardz 4 Galz was "Cupcakes" I knew straightaway which stamp I wanted to use. I have quite a few stamps and dies featuring cupcakes!

I coloured the image with Derwent Inktense pencils and added a little white gel pen for detailing and some silver pen for the cake stand. The banner and sentiment is from Apple Blossom crafts and I inked the edges with glycerine and ink from an aqua pen.

I used the same ink around the edges of the Spellbinders die cut. I used the same shape die but the fancy cut for the mount. This was cut from a page of a Craftwork Card afternoon tea pad.

Monday, 27 November 2017

I used the Christmas in Moonbeam Meadow cd rom from Crafters Companion. The centre image on my card is as the topper comes on the cdrom, so I just printed it out and added some glitter and clear sparkle on the angel wings.

I mounted the image onto a TL die cut from silver mirri and then embossed the base card with a music folder from Crafters Companion. Finally I added a little blue ink to the embossed background. I actually used a brush with some ink left on it as I wanted a subtle touch of ink.

Saturday, 25 November 2017

I had to have this Tim Holtz snowglobe but I wasn't prepared for quite how fiddly putting it together was going to be. The version from a couple of years ago I thought was tricky but this is a whole other level!

I used some paper from a magazine for the background then everything else I cut from shades of brown snippets. The windows are just so fiddly - lots of dropping them and trying to pick them up. I'm going to have to do this again whilst I remember how I did it LOL!

I embossed the sentiment onto the base and die cut a sentiment.

This is for Rudolph Day at Mo's blog - not open yet so I will link when I can.

Thursday, 23 November 2017

For my entry I chose to use Penny Black stamp sets. I put a mask circle in the sky and inked around it, then removed the mask and stamped the wreath stamps, highlighting with a little liquid pearls in red.

I coloured hedgie and his sledge with coloursoft pencils adding some broken china oxide ink round him and the trees. Finally I added some touches of iridescent glitter.

Wednesday, 22 November 2017

The challenge this time is to "use vellum". For my GDT card I incorporated vellum into two elements on my card. First by using vellum through an embossing folder and my go press foil to add black foil to the embossed element of the folder. I also cut out my sentiment using vellum.

The image is from Flonzcraft with sentiment stamps from Whimsy Stamps. I added some silver paste to give a little bit of a grunge look to the card.

Unfortunately none of my sentiments fitted the card space so I hand wrote the "question"!.

Thanks for looking and I do hope you can join in the challenge whilst adding to your stock of male cards. Thanks also to The Male Room challenge for asking me to be a GDT.

Tuesday, 21 November 2017

I've just got some Sweet Poppy stencils and couldn't wait to try them out with various methods. For this one I used texture paste and then various glitters.

The die cut sentiment is from a Tonic set and the stamped sentiment is from a Paper Smooches set. I edged the card with a black sharpie and then for an extra sparkle I used a sparkle gel pen over the top of the black and also over the die cut.

Monday, 20 November 2017

The challenge at the Male Room is to Paper Piece. I was struggling a bit as I usually paper piece dresses or flowers. However, I decided this mini car was suitable for the task.

I also added a little glossy accents for the windows and lights and some silver colouring for the chrome areas on the car. The sentiment is a Phill Martin one and I thought fitted nicely into the layout.

Friday, 17 November 2017

My turn to share a make using the fabulous products from Swedish House Crafts. You can click on the items I used in the text - this will take you straight to the item in the shop.

I used as the base of my card Maja Designs Denim and Friends paper collection - I thought the stars looked like they would be in the sky, also some of the papers torn and inked to look like waves. I added some mica flakes in blue and silver to give the sea some dimension.

I just love these cute Gummiapan houses and with some paper behind the apertures I thought they looked a little like beach houses. I actually cut them from two sizes of the paper from Maja 6 x6 and the 12x12 wood paper. I inked the edges with Peacock Feather oxide ink to make them look a little weather worn.

Thursday, 16 November 2017

It just so happened that I was going to make my card for the CD Sunday challenge when I was asked to make a Get Well card.

I decided to use the Serif "Bloke" cdrom for my background and the font for the wording. I printed it out and the stamps I have added are the T Holtz ones of the man and the birds. I put a little grey shadow around one side of the main stamp with a promarker. I added a little oxide ink here and there and that's it!

Monday, 13 November 2017

The current Less is More challenge is running for another week so I decided to have another go as my first entry apparently doesn't have enough white space. The theme is fireworks but not necessarily to show fireworks, so I have gone with the colours of fireworks.

I stamped using a Lavinia stamp and then with some bubble wrap splodged Cosmic shimmer inks over the image. Finally I added a sentiment from Paper Smooches before cutting out with a stitched Gummiapan die from Swedish House Crafts.

Now I am probably going to disqualify myself again - but it just didn't look right without a black mat which I cut out with a Lawn Fawn stitched die.